Service in Jamaica: Working at Sandy Bank Primary

The agency that set us up in Jamaica arranged for our group to volunteer at a primary school in Jamaica. It was an eye-opening experience to the problems with education systems around the world. We had 4 days at the schools, 2 teaching the kids, and 2 doing painting projects around the school. The days of teaching were infinitely harder.

The first day the teacher let me go around and help this kids with different problems, while she sat at her desk. All the kids were demanding my attention and trying to get help as quickly as possible for things they did not understand. It was extremely overwhelming but somehow I did it and it felt great to really help out the kids who needed it!

 

 In between working and helping the kids, I made them all maps of the U.S. because they were adorably curious about my home, it was sweet!

  

The afternoon I was completely in charge of the class, and the second day my teacher did not even come to school but instead left me alone to deal with the kids and figure out what to do. We played some games about synonyms, read about sharks, learned about transportation, and played a lot of games outside!

 

They were crazy and rowdy most of the time. We had quite a few dance "breaks" in class. But they were so much fun!

 

The second 2 days we painted a variety of signs and did projects for the school, including their gate, front sign, and a bunch of other signs to hang around!

We made HUGE improvements on their front sign!

But of course the base part was the kids. We brought a whole suitcase of school supplies and playground toys which were a total blast!

The service was the reason we were there, and the service was amazing and 100% worth it!